Weekend Mag Challenge: go with the flowboard

I WAS at Sentosa Island in Singapore when the flowboarding wave machine caught my eye.

I dabble in surfing and stand up paddle boarding, so I skipped the little wave and went straight to the big one, because it couldn't be that hard, right?

As I watched the pros carve it up and a few fall to their face, I piped up the courage to take up the pipeline and hit the artificial wave.

Playing it safe, I started on my belly and automatically got shot back into the wave and slid down the barrel out the other side.

First go was definitely a test run. Again on my belly and this time I managed to try and stay on the wave for a few more brief seconds until the same movement sucked me into the wave and spat me back out. I'm sure this is how a frog feels when it gets flushed down a pipe.

So after two attempts of failing on my belly, I can now attempt standing up.

I expected a surfboard yet they gave me a board about the size of a wakeboard, which naturally felt weird.

I learnt to realise this was nothing like surfing. You start standing up and then mass amounts of water are pushed towards you, which then you just hold on and balance for your life, or fall into the flush pipe of a wave.

The first attempt the board was sucked from beneath my feet and I jumped back up on the side.

Again I attempt and I last perhaps 0.5 seconds standing before I realise I'm getting washed up again, and again, and again, falling in all kinds of awkward positions, right on camera, in front of my boyfriend, his family and all the other tourists enjoying this hilarious entertainment.

I am bruised, battered, sore and gasping for air. This was nothing at all like surfing, and not at all easy for my uncoordinated self. But it was absolutely fun and an adrenaline rush to remember.

Waking up the next day was a struggle, with terrible whiplash and so sore I could hardly move.

However #noregrets, I had the time of my life and I would do it again. Why? Why not!

TAKE THE CHALLENGE: Have you tried flowboarding? Share your experience and photos with us. Email weekend@apn.com.au or on Instagram: #weekendmagchallenge